1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally concerns a door operating system having a variable programmed operating method to satisfy certain preselected criteria.
2. Description of the Related Art
Relevant door systems have become known, for example, from PCT publication WO 9,211,544, but in that case a door that opens and closes automatically is controlled by the fact that the height of an object that is to pass through the door is recognized from the outside and the extent of opening of the door is adjusted accordingly. This known technique is thus limited to a door that opens and closes vertically and makes it possible for a delivery car or truck, for example, to drive into a building, so the extent of opening is controlled according to the height of the vehicle.
With such a door system, however, the number of people desiring to enter a certain building cannot be taken into account. Door systems such as those used especially with large buildings have the challenge that the door system must be designed to be as free of drafts as possible. This term is understood to refer to the fact that an airlock-type passageway is created in the area of the door system, so that at least one side--the side forming the closure for the building--is always closed, so no outside air can penetrate directly into the building. On the other hand, however, in many situations the passage of people and/or vehicles through the door system should be hindered as little as possible and the entrance should be as inviting as possible to passersby--which is probably best achieved with a completely open entranceway.
Such a requirement that the building be free of drafts is encountered especially in bad weather conditions, such as, for example, cold outdoor temperatures, rain, wind and snow, etc. Under other weather conditions it may not be necessary to keep the building draft-free in all cases, however, and the doors should be opened as invitingly as possible and should remain open to guarantee unhindered access to the building.
Another problem is that the opening response of the door system should be adapted to the frequency at which people pass through the door, that is, the opening response should be different when a large number of people are passing through the door system from that when, for example, only one person is passing through the door system.
This behavior, namely, adjusting the door system to the number of people passing through it, should also be modified in accordance with the weather conditions described above and/or the comfort requirements in the interior area at the time in question, for example, freedom from drafts.
The ideal would be for a door to open only as much as necessary for one or more people to pass through, that is, the door should close "at the proper point" (this is understood to refer to the cross-over line of anyone passing through the door system), namely, only to the extent required for the specific number of people in each case and also only as long as is necessary for this individual passage of people.
Previously, however, with the known systems, such a door system could be either opened completely or a so-called winter opening (to be adjusted manually) could be set. The disadvantage of complete opening is that a great deal of heat is lost, even if only a single person goes through the door, and energy is wasted unnecessarily to drive the entire door combination.
The manually adjusted winter setting mentioned earlier has, of course, the advantage that only a relatively small opening is allowed for the person to enter, but it also has the disadvantage that the winter setting cannot easily be overridden or automatically enlarged to the required extent when several people want to pass through the door.